


The Straw That Broke the Camerupt's Back

by thegirlwiththefro



Series: The Fentlo Region [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon GO
Genre: Angst, breakdown - Freeform, fucking pokenerd, greek names, they/them pronouns, workaholic tendencies, yes the squirtle's name is bowser
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 00:40:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9048436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlwiththefro/pseuds/thegirlwiththefro
Summary: Levi and Bri's friendship have been rocky for several months now. This is just the breaking point.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [King of Memes](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=King+of+Memes).



> Sparknotes Explanation: A friend and I have been working on building a pokemo region for months, now. This is just one of the many stories we've created with our characters. Obviously there's a lot that's not exactly explained considering this is the middle of the story. One of these days I'll start writing the full story, but for now you're going to have to deal with this 3AM garbage of a Christmas gift. I'll give you a brief rundown:
> 
> The Fentlo region is where the GO world takes place, and is the norm for the region. The team leaders often choose second in commands that will one day take over the team.
> 
> Bri is the Mystic second in command. Workaholic. Insanely smart. Wicked talented trainer. Loves pokemon. Her mother runs Fentlo's famous pokemon sanctuary. If Spark weren't already the Newt Scamander of Pokemon, she'd snatch up that spot in a heartbeat. Aspires to become a gym leader.
> 
> Levi is a pokemon ranger from another region, but currently resides in Fentlo with his girlfriend Kelsie. Laidback. Cares more about power than actually training his pokemon.
> 
> Isaac is a Mystic scientist and a gym leader.

When Levi had free time (which he seemed to have a lot of lately), he found himself wandering Fentlo’s east side while Kelsie worked on her pokemon training certificate to help further her plans for a pokemon obedience school. He’d battle trainers, strengthen his pokemon, and make sure the wildlife hadn’t been disturbed. Sometimes, he even slept out in the wilderness overnight. He was a certified ranger, after all.

Normally he’d be hanging out with Bri, but she was always busy doing some science thing. And if it wasn’t a science thing, it was a gala thing; and if it wasn’t that, it was a Mystic thing. Sometimes it was all of the above. When they were together, she would complain about her life, or was too stressed to have a recreational battle (or she was just too scared to admit that his team could easily pound hers into the dirt). Their hanging out time for the past several months consisted of her fieldwork jobs.

Today was no exception.

He got the call at around six in the morning. Before he could lift his sleepy head and look at the caller ID, he knew who it was. There was only one person that would call him at this hour.

“...Hello?”

“Yo, did I wake you up?” Her face appeared on the screen, illuminated by the light of her phone. Bri never kept the best hours. She was wearing her pajamas and glasses (an accessory she didn’t wear often), and judging by the dark shadows of her surroundings, it looked like she could have been in the break room of the lab. What was he kidding - it was the lab. She practically lived there nowadays.

“I’m awake now, aren’t I?” He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “What’s up?”

“I’m going out on fieldwork again. Going to further my research on the sizes of the regional Raticates and their environments. Wanna come with?” She adjusted her glasses and waited for an answer.

“Sure. Where are we going?” he yawned.

“Rho City area. I haven’t explored the populations over there yet, so… Where are you? Are you in your hammock?” For a moment, her entire face took up the screen as she moved her head for a closer look. She looked really tired.

“What time?”

“Oh, I dunno. I guess I wanna try to catch some z’s first. Then we can meet up and grab lunch or something? And then we’ll walk out of town and see what we can find.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m going back to sleep.”

“Great! I’ll give you a buzz when I’m heading out. Peace.” Bri’s face disappeared and his screen went dark. For a few minutes, Levi browsed his phone and shot off a quick text to Kelsie to let her know his plans for the day. Then, he muted his notifications and went back to sleep. Next to him, his Ampharos, Aries, gave a sleepy sigh.

***

Bri had only managed to toss and turn for an hour before she decided to work on one of her latest research papers. She’d have plenty of time to nap later. In fact, she was setting it in her schedule to take a nap after she was done hanging out with Levi. The scientist hummed happily as she typed the alarm into her phone to remind her. With a big yawn, she went back to working on her paper on crossbreeds of pokemon. Almost like shinies, but genetic variations. Not that a shiny wasn’t a genetic variation. Her crossbreeds paper was more of a discussion on what would happen if you mixed the DNA of one pokemon with another and what the resulting pokemon would be. She couldn’t wait to get started on it once Blanche approved.

Speaking of, her team leader opened the door to the break room and turn the lights on.

“Morning,” Bri said. Blanche looked around the room and surveyed the mess their second in command had made. “Don’t worry it’ll all be gone before everyone else gets here. And I’ll be wearing lab safe clothes.”

“Did you sleep here again?” Blanche asked.

“Does it count as sleep if I didn’t ever go to bed?” Bri winked. Her fingers continued to fly across the keys. “I’ve been working on some things. I’m going out today for a few hours to work on the Raticate study. Is there anything else I should be aware of?”

“Weekly staff meeting at nine,” Blanche said. “Try not to sleep through it this time.”

“No one would have noticed if Spark hadn’t decided to see how many pens he could fit in my hair. Besides I’m not falling asleep I have coffee. I’ll be fine.” The Mystic leader simply rolled their eyes and left the break room. At this point was it Briana’s room? She had an office that she never used except to file papers. Claimed it made her too stressed.

 

Bri continued to type away until 8:30, when she realized she needed to clean up and get changed. Sweeping her mess into a corner of the room and covering it with her blanket, she rifled through her bag for some clean clothes. She needed to stop off at home soon to do some laundry… Her eyes were definitely too tired to keep wearing her glasses. Bri took them off and rubbed her sleepy face. The world looked slightly out of focus, but nothing she hadn’t handled before.

At 8:50, she left the break room with coffee in hand and pulled her lab coat off the hook at her station. The Eevee she was observing quirked its head at her. Bri gave him a quick scratch behind the ear and one of her homemade poketreats before turning to the elevator. She hummed as the faint ding of the elevator hitting each floor grew louder. With one final ding, it opened up and Bri shuffled inside.

“‘Sup, short stuff?” Bri startled, but quickly adjusted when she saw it was only Candela.

“Shit, Candela, you scared me.”

The Valor leader laughed it off with a shrug. “Yeah, I’ve noticed you get jumpy when you’re tired and trying to use caffeine as a viable fuel source. Another all nighter?”

Bri groaned. “I wasn’t even trying this time. I got caught up in some work and decided to stay at the lab to work on it. Next thing I know the sun’s up.”

“Ah, the story of my life.” The elevator made another stop. The doors opened and there was Spark, out of breath and looking like he’d just run a marathon.

“Made it.” He walked in and leaned against the wall.

“With… one floor to spare,” Bri commented.

“I still got here, though!” He grinned. Such an optimist. The elevator opened and all three scientists exited and turned right. They continued to chat as they walked the hallway to Willow’s meeting room. Most of the staff was already there. Bri split from Spark and Candela to sit next to one of her other colleagues and best friends, Isaac. At an even seven feet, he towered over everyone in the room, but he was a gentle soul.

“Hey,” Isaac greeted.

“Morning. Can I borrow paper? I forgot/lost my notebook somewhere in the break room.”

“Already one step ahead of you,” he said as he slid a few sheets her way. “Need a pen?”

“Nah, I’m sure there’s one in my hair somewhere from last week’s meeting. Joking, joking!” Bri held up her hands to defend herself against Isaac’s wary look. “I’ve taken plenty of showers since then. I have one in there from last night.”

“Sometimes I worry about you. Did you sleep last night?”

“Of course I did.”

Isaac leaned in and took a whiff of her coffee. “Chesto blend. You only use it after an all nighter.” He leaned back in his chair, satisfied.

Bri stared at him. “How do you even know that?”

“I’m a scientist. It’s my job to observe things and take note.” Bri didn’t have time to come up with a reply. The meeting had begun.

***

Several Slowpoke doodles and one morning data documentation later, Bri was on the road to Rho City. Her Squirtle, Bowser, walked beside her. It was cloudy. Perfect weather for observation.

“Haven’t seen Levi for a while, Bows. Maybe if we have time we can do a small battle? Only if you’re up to it, though. I want to see if you’ve made any progress. But again no pressure. There’s always next time.” The pink pokemon trilled with happiness. Bri grinned. “Great! We can tell Levi when we -”

“HEADS UP!” Bri turned just in time to see a Braviary dive bombing at her. Scooping up Bowser, she got out of the way in time. The Braviary pulled up, its talons inches from where her head would have been. As it flew off, it gave off a sound resembling a cackle. She only knew one pokemon that possessed that shiteating cackle, and his owner was somewhere in the area.

“Ha. Very funny, Levi,” she called out as she cradled her trembling Squirtle in her arms. “You scared Bowser. Was using Blue like that worth it for your dramatic entrance?”

On cue, Levi dropped down from a nearby tree. He tipped his hat in greeting. “Blue was just practicing his moves. We fighting today?”

“Not anymore. I can’t record any data when you’re using intimidation tactics. You know Bowser’s issues. He’s not going to fight well, now.”

“Sorry, bud,” said the ranger. Bowser just tucked himself further into his trainer’s arms. Bri placed a kiss on his head.

“And was that Brave Bird? Why would you use that move out of all things? That hurts Blue. You know that, right?”

“Only a little.” Bri made a noise that said she begged to differ, but she kept silent otherwise. There was no use in arguing. They’d already done it several times, and Levi simply wasn’t going to see her way.

With a caw, Blue sailed over and landed at Levi’s side. Bowser’s trembling increased. With a sigh, Bri recalled him to his ball.

“Hi, Blue,” she said to the Braviary. Blue hopped over to her and allowed her to scratch at his favorite spot. The bird cooed. “You don’t pet him enough.”

“Nah, he just likes you petting him more. Hamming it up, y’know?”

“If you say so… wanna get food? I’m starved. And I haven’t seen you in a while so I want to catch up.”

“Lead the way.”

***

“Blue, bad! I’ve given you five treats already, and I’m not going to give you any more until you learn how to behave.” Bri glanced over at Levi, who had said nothing during the whole exchange. “You know it’s really not my job to discipline your pokemon. Can you tell him to knock it off before he bites off my hand?”

Levi shrugged. “He’s a Braviary. They’re supposed to be aggressive.” Bri’s heart fell. There was no such thing as aggressive pokemon. Only aggressive trainers. And she found it ironic that Levi’s girlfriend was studying to become an obedience trainer, and yet none of Levi’s pokemon were trained. Blue was the worst of them all. Levi just let them run wild and made them get stronger. Bri would give anything for Bowser to be as strong as Levi’s pokemon, but not if it meant that he was going to act the way they did. No, she’d continue working on him at the pace that Bowser was comfortable.

And yet Bri said none of this. She just rolled her eyes and said, “Whatever. According to my dex we’re here so pop a squat.”

Levi watched Bri pull out all of her fieldwork equipment. He eyed her pokedex with envy. Bri had had one for almost as long as he’d known her. He thought that by having powerful pokemon he would have been rewarded one of the rare devices by now, but no. Guess being a prodigy trainer and Blanche’s second had its perks.

 

They talked as she took notes. They had a lot more to catch up on than Bri had realized. It had been at least a month since they had last seen each other in person. She felt kind of bad about it, but she could only take so much Levi nowadays so she supposed it was good they could only see each other this often.

Especially if he was going to continue to let Blue act like an ass.

“Can you recall Blue for a bit? He keeps diving and it’s scaring the Raticate.”

“You and I both know that he won’t stay in his ball.”

“Okay… Hey, was that a shiny? I’ll be right back I’m going to go check it out.” Bri scrambled to stand and she trotted off in the direction she claimed to have seen the special Raticate. The scientist had a knack for finding them, Levi noted. She had an extensive collection of shinies that she was proud of, and had made it her life’s purpose to study. Well, that and about a hundred other theories that she was always working on.

Something dropped next to Levi and when he glanced over, he was very surprised to see a mangled Raticate at his side. He drew away from it. Blue cawed and landed next to his prize. The bird ruffled its feathers and puffed his chest, waiting for his trainer to praise him. The only thing that Levi could think was, “Shit.”

And of course before he could even think of covering up what had happened, Bri’s footsteps came walking back through the forest.

“It wasn’t a shiny, it was just the light playing tricks on me. Or my mind. I really need sleep. I’m planning to take a nice long nap after -” Bri stopped in her tracks when she saw the dead Raticate. Her eyes slowly trailed up to Blue. The Braviary picked up the pokemon and hopped over to her to show her what he had done. He gently dropped the Raticate at her feet. Bri drew back a few steps and stayed silent. Eventually she looked at Levi, and her glare was so icy that he could swear that maybe her “Humans Are Just Weak Pokemon” theory was actually correct because he felt the warm Fentlo air get about five degrees colder.

This was his fault. He should have been teaching Blue. With a shaky hand, Levi returned Blue to his ball. It shook a little bit, but for once his pokemon didn’t escape. By the time he looked up again, Bri had gathered her things back into her bag and was kneeling over the dead Raticate. She let out a sniff and Levi could tell that she was trying not to cry. Under any other circumstances, he could imagine her saying, “I grew up in a pokemon sanctuary I should be used to it by now,” through her tears. But not today.

And when Levi finally wiped away the tears from his eyes, Bri and the Raticate were gone and he was all alone. As if sensing something was wrong, Aries’ ball shook on his belt. Soon, the Ampharos had snuggled beside him and Levi knew he was safe to melt down where only the Raticates could hear his sobs.

***

“You’re back late,” Blanche commented when they noticed Bri trying to sneak past. “Was watching the Raticate really all that interesting?” Their second looked at them like a Deerling in headlights.

“Yeah, I uh, got really dirty so I figured I would stop by my apartment and clean up.” She wasn’t going to tell Blanche that she had spent the past three hours cleaning Raticate blood from her clothes and crying and being a general wreck. She was still a wreck. “I’m actually going to go home and get some sleep. I’m exhausted. I’ll go after I do my evening evaluation of the Eevee, if that’s all right with you?”

“By all means. Anything for you to take a night off and stop sleeping on the break room sofa.”

“Thanks.” Bri slipped into the break room. Blanche stared after her, wondering if something was wrong. Eventually, they just passed it off as exhaustion, like Bri had said. That girl needed to sleep more.

Bri gathered her things and put them on a chair next to the Eevee’s enclosure. The small pokemon was so happy to see her. He jumped up and down and ran in circles, eventually rolling over onto his back so she could rub his belly. Bri gave him a small smile and proceeded to dedicate herself to doing a thorough check. It at least kept her mind off things.

“See you tomorrow,” she called over her shoulder when she was finished. It was more to the Eevee than to Blanche. The Eevee chirped happily. Blanche waved Bri away and told her again to get sleep. Bri took the elevator down, happy that she hadn’t met anyone along the way and left the building in the same fashion. Outside, she summoned her Altaria and situated herself on top of the soft bird.

“You know what to do, Puff,” she mumbled into her feathers. With a cry, Puff took off and carried her trainer home.

Exhausted from all the crying, Bri fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

***

Levi tightened the straps on his backpack as he approached the ferry. He stopped and turned back to look at the lights of Delta City. They twinkled back at him. He turned away and continued forward. Aries was right by his side every step of the way.

Kelsie said going to Alola would help him. They had a unique way of life there. It would be relaxing. Levi was going to take her word for it. If it meant finding a way to really train his pokemon and build a stronger relationship with them, he would take that chance. At this point, he would do anything to better himself and in turn better his pokemon.

“Last call to board the nine o’clock ferry to Melemele Island, Alola.” With one huge gulp, Levi pushed down the bubbles in his stomach. Handing over his ticket, he walked inside and found his room. Tomorrow would be the first step on his new adventure. He wasn’t going to return until he could prove himself to Bri and to his pokemon.

***

**Levi and Bri did not meet again for another four years.**


End file.
